Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hold The Sunset’ On BritBox, Where John Cleese Rekindles A Romance, Then Her Middle-Aged Son Moves Back

It may not seem like it, given his many guest appearances, but John Cleese hasn’t headlined a TV series in nearly 40 years, since the legendary Fawlty Towers ended in 1979. His new BBC series Hold The Sunset, streaming in the States on BritBox, is completely different in tone. But does Cleese need to be manic to be funny?

HOLD THE SUNSET: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A woman in her late 60s-early 70s cleans up around her house, then tries to figure out which item goes in which recycling bin, even with a brochure in front of her. An older gentleman walks across the street, chiding a neighbor for always using the same tree when he walk his dog.

The Gist: Edith (Alison Steadman) and Phil (John Cleese) are neighbors who also happened to have a history; they were lovers decades ago before either married and started families. Now both are widowed, and they’ve been spending a lot of time around each other.

When the first episode starts, Phil comes around like he usually does, then starts the usual discussion about how the two of them should make it official, maybe get married or at least move in together. She’s resisted for awhile, but when she pulls out some Champagne, he realizes she’s ready to go along with it. Phil proposes that the two of them sell their houses and move to an Mediterranean villa in order to live out their golden years together.

Photo: BBC

Suddenly the doorbell rings; at the door is Edith’s son Roger (Jason Watkins). Apparently, he’s left his wife Wendy (Rosie Cavaliero) and he’s “especially” left his two snotty teenage kids. He’s also quit his job, thinking that, at almost 50, he can recapture the life he wanted when he was living in his family’s home as a teenager.

Roger moves back in, as if he had always lived there, expecting Edith to dote on him like she did when he was a kid. Obviously, this is all to Phil’s consternation, and he tries to let Edith know that she shouldn’t be catering to her middle-aged child like this; she agrees but doesn’t want to turn him out on his arse. Even when Wendy arrives to talk with Roger, she more or less takes her son’s side, again to Phil’s dismay.

Our Take: While it seems that Hold The Sunset is your standard-grade modern Britcom, it’s notable because it’s Cleese’s first TV series starring role since Fawlty Towers went off the air in 1979. But anyone thinking they’re going to see Cleese playing anything resembling Basil Fawlty isn’t accounting for the four decades that have passed since then.

Photo: BBC

Written by actor/screenwriter Charles McKeown (Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Hold The Sunset is more interested in gentle humor rather than broad farce. To be sure, there are broad moments in the first episode, like Roger getting stuck in a tiny window while wearing his dad’s threadbare robe. But for now, all the laughs are coming from Roger, like when he’s upset that Edith gave away his comic book collection, and when he thinks the neighbor girl he had a crush on still lived next door.

Steadman, most familiar to U.S. audiences as Kendall Malone in Orphan Black, is the standout as a woman torn between her immature son, whom she still wants to care for and protect, and the fun new adventure she wants to have with Phil.

Once Roger enters the picture, Cleese is relegated to a snarky observer, though we know that he can deliver a line with the best of them, like when he chides his neighbor Mr. Dugdale (Peter Egan) about how he lets his dog pee and poop on the same tree: “This from Professor Dugdale, head of symbiotic tree and dog studies at the Do The Bears Defecate In The Woods Institute.” We hope further episodes bring Cleese’s snarkiness out more, though at 79 years old, anyone who expects even a hint of Cleese’s manic and exasperated Basil Fawlty is going to be disappointed.

Sex and Skin: Nothing yet, but maybe when Edith and Phil get a moment to themselves…

Photo: BBC

Parting Shot: Phil describes to Edith the life they could be living, as she looks longingly: “Sitting on a balcony, looking out over the Mediterranean with pinot grigios in our hands, sitting together, watching the sun set slowly into the sea.” She knows she needs to boot Roger out. But how?

Sleeper Star: Cavaliero is pretty funny as Wendy. You see how polite she is, having chit-chat with Phil while Edith tries to coax Roger out to talk, then she starts lobbing insult bombs at Roger as Edith tries to loosen him from the window. There seems to be two sides of Wendy, and it’ll be fun to see that during the rest of the season.

Most Pilot-y Line: The writing is mostly sharp, though Roger calling Phil an “old lecher” is a little harsh.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Don’t expect belly laughs, but it’s a well-written show about two seniors whose plans are interrupted by life.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.